By Miranda Chant
February 3, 2017
Archived videos of London city council and committee meetings will be restored to the city’s website and YouTube channel.
In a special council meeting held Friday afternoon, councillors unanimously voted in favour of staff re-posting the videos, which were removed earlier this week over fears they violated the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Patrick Maloney
By Patrick Maloney, The London Free Press
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 4:04:35 EST PM
A city councillor is ripping staff over an “unacceptable” oversight that led city hall to strip its website and YouTube channel of all video records of political debates.
Coun. Mo Salih says city council was told late Tuesday that all city videos a valuable visual account of council meetings are in “non-compliance” with accessibility rules due to a “lack of closed-captioning for (the) hearing impaired.”
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
January 13, 2017
SUMMARY
We unfortunately start this new year with a Cabinet shuffle that for people with disabilities, is a case of one step forward and then seven months later, one step backward. Yesterday’s Cabinet shuffle significantly unravelled the gains we applauded last June.
Source: Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Jan 2, 2017
Starting January 1, the TTC’s eligibility criteria for new Wheel-Trans customers are expanding and a new conditional category is being introduced.
To align with the Ontario Human Rights Code and to comply with changes to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the TTC will accept applications from persons with cognitive, sensory and mental health disabilities in addition to physical disabilities. Services for existing Wheel-Trans customers will not be impacted as a result of this change.
December 5, 2016
The Parliamentary Committee released its report “Strengthening Democracy in Canada : Principles, Process and Public Engagement for Electoral Reform” last Thursday only in pdf which it knew was unreadable by blind electors.
“It is ironic and very disturbing that the same day Ministers Qualtrough and Dion announced that Canada was moving to sign the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities that a report of importance to all electors was released in a format that Canadians who are blind could not read,” says John Rae, a long time disability rights advocate.
